Visual Motion Commands for Pursuit Eye Movements in the Cerebellum

Eye movements that follow a target (pursuit eye movements) facilitate high acuity visual perception of moving targets by transforming visual motion inputs into motor commands that match eye motion to target motion. The performance of pursuit eye movements requires the cerebellar flocculus, which pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1991-08, Vol.253 (5019), p.568-571
Main Authors: Krauzlis, Richard J., Lisberger, Stephen G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Behavioral neuroscience
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Cerebellum - physiology
Electrophysiology
Evoked Potentials, Visual
Eye
Eye and associated structures. Visual pathways and centers. Vision
Eye Movements
Eyes
Eyes & eyesight
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Haplorhini
Kinetics
Modeling
Models, Neurological
Motion Perception
Motion perception (Vision)
Movements
Nervous system
Neurons
Perceptions
Purkinje cells
Purkinje Cells - physiology
Velocity
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
Visual signals
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Summary:Eye movements that follow a target (pursuit eye movements) facilitate high acuity visual perception of moving targets by transforming visual motion inputs into motor commands that match eye motion to target motion. The performance of pursuit eye movements requires the cerebellar flocculus, which processes both visual motion and oculomotor signals. Electrophysiological recordings from floccular Purkinje cells have allowed the identification of their firing patterns during generation of the image velocity and image acceleration signals used for pursuit. Analysis with a method based on a behavioral model converted the time-varying spike trains of floccular Purkinje cells into a description of the firing rate contributed by three visual motion signals and one oculomotor input. The flocculus encodes all the signals needed to guide pursuit.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1907026